87D124

Seth, There is EMS World Expo & I think it is out West/Southwest.

I was just looking at the JEMS EMS TODAY Conference website & it states that the conference will be in Washington DC in 2013. I am curious as to why, after all these years of having the conference in Baltimore, why it is being moved to DC? Does anyone have any info on this?

Date: 3/4/12 Time: 0315 Location: 274 Route 94 Frequency: 153.860/46.16/46.40 Units Operating: Warwick FD, Warwick EMS, Warwick PD, Care 1 EMS, LifeNet Medivac Weather Conditions: clear/cold Description Of Incident: Warwick FD Chief rolled up on rollover MVA. 1 patient ejected from vehicle w/major trauma. Medivac enroute. LZ at Sanfordville School Reporters: Writer: 87D124

Dan, I know being per-diem at a union shop is against what you believe, but they would be gaining back a very good "Old Timer" ;-)

Salary at Empress would be based on what the Union contract says. I believe the number of years of experience you have will have something to do with how much you get per hour.

It doesnt seem like it is that hard to find employment in the EMS field around this area. You have SeniorCare in NYC along with TransCare and whoever else runs around there. You have Empress in Yonkers, Rockland Mobile Care/RPS in Rockland County/Tuxedo, Care1 in Dutchess, Mobile Life in Orange, Mobile Medic in Sullivan, NDP in Dutchess......plus you have the VACs that have paid EMTs (Port Jervis, Blooming Grove, New Windsor & Wallkill). Now, back on the Union subject.............out of all the places listed above, only one is Unionized and that would be Empress. As I have stated in the beginning of this topic.........the employees of all of the agencies listed above would/could greatly benefit from being unionized. Maybe when they see the benefits, they will motivate themselves to get the pay & benefits that they deserve for the HARD work & DEDICATION to their respective employers.

10570, Great reply! You & 129 hit the nail on the head!

Dan (129), I couldnt have said it better myself! I almost fell off my chair when i read your comments to the non-union guy. ;-)

Thanks to everyone for your positive posts regarding unions in Private EMS agencies. It is a pleasure to see that this idea seems to be gaining some ground. Many members will not post here, but even if they just read all the responses and pass them along to their fellow employees, it is good start. I really hope that more members will post here & give us their thoughts or views on this topic. I know I stated in my original that the only way for employees of private ambulance services to be treated fairly and be paid what they deserve is to unionize. I took some time to read up on the UEMSW union website, this is the new union that the California AMR employees are trying to vote in to represent them. The power and unity of the UEMSW is becoming stronger and is quickly gaining national attention in the EMS field. It helps that the IAFF & the FDNY EMTs & Paramedics Unions are showing strong support for the UEMSW. I do support the idea of taking EMS away from the DOT & putting it under a more suitable Federal agency. Whether it is Homeland Security, Health & Human Services, NFPA or a newly created federal agency. This will help EMS throughout country become more standardized. So, EMTs & Medics across the USA get the same education, have the same protocols and the same scope of practice. The standardization of EMS across the Country will also help the unions in the fight for better pay and benefits for all EMS workers, both municipal and private. Instead of waiting for the beaurocrats to figure things out, it would make sense for employees of the non-unionized private ambulance services to start at least looking into unions & fighting for what they deserve. I see no valid reason for not going in the union direction. Empress EMS employees set the standard 15 years ago when they unionized. While being unionized isnt without some negatives, the good has far outweighed the bad. Empress is the top private ambulance service in the Hudson Valley area when it comes to pay, benefits and retention of employees. It would great to see employees of another top private ambulance services fromthe Hudson Valley follow the lead of the Empress EMS employees who blazed the path to unionization 15 years ago. Thecompany I am speaking of is Mobile Life Support Services. With over 300+ employees, their voices would be heard loud & clear if they were unionized. The employees of Mobile Life are some of the most hard working & dedicated EMTs & Paramedics I have ever met. They more than deserve to be compensated for the hard work & dedication, just like the employees of Empress are compensated for their hard work & dedication. Image the power of a union that had MLSS & Empress employeesas its membership? Just something to consider.

If anyone from the State of NJ deserves to have the flag flown at half staff today, tomorrow or in the coming days...........are the children of the NJ State Trooper who were killed yesterday when their school bus was struck by a garbage truck. I know this might not fall under the rules for our flag, but I am stating this to prove a point!

REST IN PEACE BROTHER! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY & THE COMMUNITIES YOU WORKED IN. YOU ARE WITH GOD NOW.

Date: 2/16/12 Time: 0001 Location: Skinners Lane & Pulaski Hwy Frequency: 154.205/46.16 Units Operating: Florida, Warwick, Goshen, Chester, Pine Island, Johnson, Florida EMS, OC EMS 1, Warwick EMS Weather Conditions: cold/clear Description Of Incident: working fire in a warehouse, CMD reporting warehouse fully involved 3rd alarm tanker task force operating Reporters: 87D124 Writer: 87D124

Date:2/15/2012 Time: 0330 Location: Hampton Road & Phillipsburg Road Frequency: 154.205/46.16 Units Operating: Goshen, Chester, Warwick, Washingtonville, Campbell Hall, New Hampton, Goshen EMS, Wallkil EMS, Mobile Life SORT Team Weather Conditions: cold/clear Description Of Incident: Units operating at a fully involved house fire, no hydrants in area. Tanker Task Force alarm in progres for tanker ops Reporters: 87D124 Writer: 87D124 EMS 1 reporting 2 FFs down, both being transported ALS to ORMC. No further info at this time.

Ok, let me start off by saying that, this topic is not being started to anger the owners/managers of the private ambulance services. I have given a lot of thought to some posts made in a different topic about employees of the private services working together and helping each other out in different ways. So, with that being said, an idea that I had to help each other out and to help employees throughout the private ambulance services operating the Hudson Valley Area (Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam & Westchester) is to try to get the employees to unionize themselves. Unions can benefit employees in several ways, from better pay to better working conditions(work hours, better/newer equipment, shift bids, seniority, station conditions, sick days, personal days, vacation days etc.) to better medical/dental/vision benefits, to giving the employees of the industry a unified voice. Even though everyone works for different companies, if everyone belonged to the same union, meetings between all of the employees could be held on neutral grounds & everyone could speak about the issues they have in their respective companies. Some people may be surprised that the problems/issues they have are common among all of the services. A large strong unified organization has a better voice than a bunch of non-unified smaller organizations. Look at the IAFF & IUPA. Even though the individual agencies have their "local" unions or PBAs, the majority of them belong to the larger "parent" unions. These "parent" unions are very strong & when they speak, their voices are heard. I know that I am going to have some critics for what I have posted. I know that the owners/managers of some or all of the ambulance services will say "they cannot afford higher wages/better benefits" or "if we have to pay higher wages, we will have to lay employees off" or "this will bankrupt the company & we will have to lay everyone off and shut down" These things will be said to scare employees from even considering the thought of unionizing. It has been said, that in the past, some services (who are more anti-union than others) have "unofficially" fired/terminated employees for even mentioning the word "union" around the work place. Obviously, the employers cannot just fire employees for discussing/considering unionization, but there are other ways for them to get rid of employees. Those who have been on the receiving end of this know what I am talking about. Some employees are treated very well by their companies, so they may not think a union will be beneficial. However, how many employees think they are worth more than what they are getting from their companies? We all work very hard at our jobs and deserve to be compensated properly & fairly. How many employees have been treated unfairly and wish they had someone with a loud strong voice to defend them against owners/managers who are not treating them fairly? If you have answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then you should, at least and for your own benefit take some time to consider unionizing.

Alsfirefighter, You are correct, my choice of words was not the correct one. It is highly unlikely, at this current time, that Care 1 would be chosen over Empress or TransCare for any of the 911 or WMC contracts.

I am not trying to be mean to the new management, I wish them all the best. The reason behind my statement is that they are having some major growing pains & they seem to be spreading themselves very very thin. I have friends who work for Care 1, so i have been told about some very embarassing & morale lowering things that have happened over the past month. Out of respect for the new team of managers, I will not state what happened in a public forum. The employees know & things are leaking out. I hope that the company will get up to where they need to be & there wont be so many dramatic changes. You had Empire & Regional join together to make HVP. Now, another big change to Care 1. IMHO, I think the biggest mistake that was made back when the company was HVP, was the termination of Witkowski. Mike was a great Chief & he ended up with the short end of the stick. It was a shame.

Medic442, Thank you for the info. I thought the only nursing home they had was the Hebrew Home for The Aged. As things stand right now, it seems highly unlikely that Care 1 would get the Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle, 87ALPHA1 or WMC contracts.

I am trying to understand why Care 1 would open up a station in Yonkers. What contracts do they have in that area of southern Westchester? Empress has 911 for Yonkers, TransCare has Mount Vernon & they both have the majority of the non-911 contracts in Westchester County.